Gemotions

I walked into the living room and found him on the couch, watching a documentary, subtitles flickering across the screen. He was mimicking the cadence, the inflections of the speakers, trying to sound fluent. It was my mother tongue, Swahili.

I sat down on the other end of the couch, maintaining a significant distance.

"What's that?" I asked, my tone flat.

"Just… learning some new things," he replied, never taking his eyes off the screen. I watched the images pass over his face, looking for something that I couldn't name.